![\"I.E.](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/firedbydesign.com\/fbdimg\/HLIC\/ecea6cf3b52ff46ed169da7b1d2663d3.jpg?resize=500%2C380&ssl=1\" "\\"dragmetohell\\"")
<\/p>\nI.E. Effects has delivered key visual effects sequences for Drag Me to Hell, director Sam Raimi\u2019s latest horror flick<\/p>\n
The film tells the story of a woman who is subject to a supernatural curse and features stunning visual effects sequences.<\/p>\n
The facility handled some 35 shots in total. \u201cThe project called for a lot of character design and animation,\u201d said David Kenneth, visual effects producer and founder of I.E. Effects. \u201cWe were honored with creating the CG monster for the film \u2013 the Lamia. Shots like these typically go to much larger facilities, but our previz was so well received that they awarded us the finishing work.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Aaron Kaminar, I.E. Effects\u2019 visual effects supervisor and lead artist on Drag me to Hell, the most challenging shots were the monster scenes, and the sequence in the heroine Christine\u2019s bedroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a horror movie, so the pacing of the story moves from long, slow sequences, which build suspense, to very fast, impactful moments,\u201d explained Kaminar. \u201cWhile you only see the monster for in brief flashes, those few frames are some of the film\u2019s more memorable moments.\u201d<\/p>\n
The film\u2019s visual effects supervisor Bruce Jones originally came to I.E. Effects with a basic design for the Lamia, and a low-res 3D model that had been used for previz. \u201cThe idea was that you\u2019d never really get a clean view of the monster, but we still had to come up with the details, so that if fans went through the DVD frame by frame \u2013 which they will \u2013 the work will stand up,\u201d said Kaminar.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were several VFX vendors that needed to use the Lamia model for various shots, so we became the contact point for the model and rig,\u201d continued Kaminar. \u201cAfter we finished building the model, we rigged it and packaged it with a little \u2018how to\u2019 manual, which we posted for the other vendors.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Kaminar, who previously worked as a compositor and digital effects artist on the Sam Raimi film, Spider-Man 2, much of the work on Drag Me to Hell involved wire and rig removal and set extensions. In one sequence, Christine (played by Alison Lohman) is being flung around the room by an invisible demon. In production, the top of the set was removed and Lohman was suspended by a cable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe camera movement was pretty sporadic, with a lot of motion blur,\u201d Kaminar explained. \u201cSo we had to recreate a good portion of the room in 3D, including some difficult 3D tracking to match the camera movement, and do a lot of keying and compositing to put Alison back in, minus the cable rig.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Kenneth, who also worked for Sam Raimi on Spider-Man 2, said, \u201cThere were a lot of high-end visual effects, compositing and CG elements involved in Drag Me to Hell and we were thrilled to be a part of the project.\u201d<\/p>\n